GreenYour.com

There are a staircase full of steps you can take to start an environmentally responsible business. They can be an inherently green venture like an organic catering business that uses recyclable, biodegradable everything, prepares and cooks food in a solar powered kitchen, and delivers its delectables in a van powered by the kitchen's waste grease. Or, a father/daughter accounting firm that recycles its paper, uses energy-efficient lighting, and allows employees to work from home one day a week. So whether you decide to take baby steps with your business or bound forward in giant green leaps, it all benefits the environment and your efforts may boost your bottom line as well.

Find it! Other environmentally responsible businesses to network with

Locating other green businesses (near or far) to exchange ideas, experiences, and tools can be a win-win situation. Here are some national and regional groups to consider joining, or you may want to start your own local eco-commerce group.[1]

How to start an environmentally responsible business

There are so many measures you can take to green your company that the task can seem daunting. Depending upon the nature of the work, small businesses probably won't have in-house environmental specialists or be able to hire environmental consultants to help with the process once the decision has been made to become environmentally friendly.[2] GreenBiz's Greening Your Business, A Primer for Smaller Companies offers a cohesive strategy for going green, to whatever degree you choose. Much of the information below comes from this guide.

• Set the foundation. Before you get ready to spring into action, make sure you comply with local, state and federal environmental, health and safety regulations. If you're not sure what regulations you need to follow, check the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)'s Compliance Assistance Centers or the Occupational Health and Safety Administration's free on-site consultation service. Then, get a handle on how much waste you produce which you may be able to accomplish at the most basic level by counting the trash bags that go out and reviewing utility bills. For help quantifying your waste and reducing it, join the EPA's WasteWise program. Now you're ready to sit down and put together your environmental policy to demonstrate to customers, stakeholders and the community that you mean business... green business that is. You may want to look at The Body Shop's straightforward set of Environmental Principles for ideas. Or you may want to follow The Coalition for Environmentally Responsible Economies' (commonly known as Ceres) ten-point code of corporate environmental conduct known as the Ceres Principles created in 1989. More than 50 companies have adopted these principles as part of their environmental mission statement or ethic including Seventh Generation.

• Cut back on office waste. Simple company-wide changes can produce big results such as setting printers to print on both sides of the paper, using email for memos and reports, saving documents on CDs and not paper, and setting up a recycling system for paper, plastics, aluminum, and glass. Also consider less-is-more ideas for product packaging, reuse incoming boxes for outgoing shipping needs, recycle old electronic equipment, and try composting food waste. Stock your office with recycled, refurbished, or reconditioned products when the performance, price, and quality is right. Recycled paper, toilet paper, and paper towels are common corporate purchases. Aim for 50 percent post-consumer recycled material or higher. Think about leasing equipment such as copiers and computers or renting seldom-used equipment so the burden of proper disposal doesn't fall on you. Sharing rarely-used machines with other local businesses is another option.

• Conserve energy. Easy measures like turning off lights, computers, and other machines when not in use, as well as installing timers can help save energy and money. When buying equipment and lighting make sure it's energy-efficient. Look for the ENERGY STAR label on applicable products. Maintain your heating and cooling system to get the most efficient operation. For the real skinny on how to save more energy, contact your energy utility or energy services company to do an energy audit, typically offered for free.

• Go with the flow. Reduce the waterworks at your business by installing low-flow faucet aerators, water saving devices in toilets, and identifying and fixing water leaks. If your biz has an outdoors component, practice xeriscaping to decrease H₂O use, consider planting a "no lawn" alternative, use a mulching mower (electric or push), and choose the correct watering system. You can collect rain water for irrigation and reuse water in manufacturing processes. Maggie Hanus, owner of a family-owned micro-business called A Wild Soap Bar reclaims the water vapor from their soap drying room and uses this pure distilled water as the liquid base for their soaps.[3]

• Tame those toxics. Take stock of toxic substances in your workplace such as cleaning supplies, copier toner, glues, paints, solvents, and batteries. Try to find ways to reduce your use of these products or use less toxic alternatives. For your printing needs, investigate printers that use soy or other vegetable-based inks. Make sure that all hazardous substances are disposed of or recycled properly. Check with your local government office to find out about disposal and go to Earth 911 to find the nearest recycling center.

• Don't forget your building. If you own your business's real estate or are involved in the design and construction of a new or refurbished building, you have an opportunity to green from the bamboo floor up to the solar-paneled roof. Learn about some green building basics to gather your options. If you rent, see about an agreement with your landlord to make some eco-improvements to the building or your space.

• Consciously commute and travel. The average US household has two-mid-sized vehicles, which emit upwards of 20,000 pounds of CO₂ every year.[4] And 27 percent of total vehicle miles traveled by Americans are to and from work, which amounts to 734 billion miles each year.[5] Cut this by setting up an employee car or van pool program, providing facilities for those who bike or walk to work, offering incentives to those who take mass transit, and allowing employees to telecommute or work on flexible schedules. Travel to meetings, conferences, and other events only if a face-to-face is absolutely necessary; teleconferencing may meet your needs without increasing your work-related carbon footprint.

• Study your product. Doing an cradle-to-grave assessment of your product or even the further reaching cradle-to-cradle view may give you ideas you hadn't considered to reduce waste, boost efficiency or quality, and provide a greener product to your customers. Think sustainable product design as well. It simply means that your product can be taken apart and easily recycled a la Herman Miller's high-quality (read long lasting) furniture.[6]

• Proceed at your own speed. Don't get overwhelmed. Start by incorporating eco-changes that can be done easily, profitably, or that don't cost you too much. Your chances of success will also grow if you can get your employees on board with your plans to go green. Form an employee-run green team to encourage their involvement and benefit from your staff's creativity and ideas.

Starting an environmentally responsible business helps you go green because...

• Your business practices, policies and principles will try to solve rather than cause environmental problems in a way that also benefits your customers, employees, and community.[7]

Over the past 20 years, environmental responsibility in the workplace has blossomed from a seed of companies legally complying with environmental protection laws into a many-petaled bloom of eco-considerations that more and more companies are taking into account.[8] And while the Wal-Mart's and the of America's garner major media spotlights for their green efforts, small businesses, which made up 99.9 percent of the more than 26 million businesses in the US in 2006, can exert influence as well.[9]

A grassroots advantage that smaller companies have over mighty behemoths is the close, daily connection with the community. Every company, large and small, whose practices are mindful of the earth can have the ripple effect of educating employees, customers, technology providers, suppliers, and clients who in turn may decide to green their lives and workplaces.[10] In 1992 the forward-thinking German furniture company, Wilkhahn, decided to look at their company as an ecological system, and adhere to environmental criteria throughout the whole product life cycle.[11] And what better model to aspire to? Elysa Hammond, corporate ecologist at Clif Bar said, "We should look at nature as the ultimate example of good management. In nature, nothing is wasted, and all material and energy loops are closed. That should be our goal at work."[12]

External links

• Herman Miller - Sustainable Products for a Sustainable Planet
• GreenBiz.com - Greening Your Business, A Primer for Smaller Companies
• ENERGY STAR - ENERGY STAR for Small Businesses
• Small Business Environmental Home Page
• Business for Social Responsibility
• Conservation International's The Center for Environmental Leadership in Business
• US Environmental Protection Agency - Product Stewardship
• Global Environmental Management Initiative
• US Business Council for Sustainable Development